[The determinants of adolescent smoking by gender and type of school in Korea]

This study assessed the influences of various factors that are related to youth smoking such as gender, age and type of school, and we wanted to provide supporting data for tailored and effective policy initiatives to reduce adolescent smoking.

A self-report survey was conducted on 14,910 teen-age students who were selected based on the nationwide distribution of students in large and small cities and counties, the gender ratio of the students and the ratio of students attending various type of school at 38 middle and high schools in six representative areas of each province. The survey was handled and managed by a health education teacher at each school. Binary and multinomial logistic regression was used in the analyses.

Smoking by adolescents was associated with gender, age and even height. Male high school students tended to smoke more than female high school students, but this differences was not significant for middle school students. The older the adolescents were, the more likely that they smoked, except for the female high school students. Height was meaningful for all adolescents, except for the boys at the vocational high schools. Monthly allowance was significant for all adolescents. School factors such as type of school and the students' school performance were also crucial factors. Attending a vocational high school was strongly related to smoking, especially for girls. Students' school performance and the perceived level of stress were strongly associated with smoking, especially for boys. Home factors such as the relationship with parents and conversation time with family members were closely related to smoking behavior. Knowledge about the health hazard of smoking was also found to be strongly related to adolescent smoking.

In conclusion, demographic factors, school factors, home surroundings and the perception on the harmfulness of smoking are strongly related to adolescent smoking behavior, but these differ from gender and type of school.